Yarmouth County man charged with extortion and fabricating evidence

YARMOUTH, N.S. – A Yarmouth County man has been charged with extortion and fabricating evidence after an RCMP investigation that started in March 2017.

The Yarmouth Rural RCMP began an investigation then when a woman told police that she had been contacted by someone who was demanding money from her.

According to an RCMP media release, she was being told that this man was in possession of a computer she once owned and he was telling her she needed to pay him to recover some photos he alleged he found on the computer, which were child pornography.

An in-depth investigation over the course of several months was conducted by detachment members, with the assistance of the RCMP Tech Crime Unit. Not only did police discover that no such photos had ever existed on the computer, but the accused, Andrew Chetwynd, had attempted to make it look as though they did.

Andrew James Chetwynd, 33, of Eel Brook, Yarmouth County was arrested on Jan. 17. He is charged with:

• Public Mischief

• Fabricating Evidence

• Extortion

He was released on conditions to have no contact with the victim, and is scheduled to appear in Yarmouth Provincial Court on Feb. 12.